Quote:
|
Originally Posted by JoeH
I'm glad the FICM crapped before your trip. FICM voltage is one of 4 things I'm always watching on the Scangauge, mainly Key on/key off. I watch the voltage as the engine cranks and/or at idle. So far so good, but no doubt the extra heat in the vans no doubt contributes to an early demise.
If you went with the 6-phase BPD FICM are you going to run it at 48, 53, or 58V? I've read mixed reviews on whether or not 58V is a good thing.
I like the redundant circuits of the BPD version. I would send your bad FICM to Ed and have it repaired and use that as your spare rather than buying another new one.
|
this is gonna be a long winded post... deal with it.
i've spoken with ed at ficmrepair.com on the phone about this, and his
experience has been that he's had few vans kill the ficm. it isn't mounted
on the engine, and he attributes that to part of it.
there are generally speaking, three root things that cause the 6.0 to leave you
sitting somewhere, looking for a hook.
battery voltage
dirty coolant
poor source code for engine controls
the ficm is, first and foremost, an amplifier.
it bumps 12 volts system voltage up to 48 volts to drive the
injector coils.
so it need electricity to work. if you start your van up, you will
probably see that the system voltage is 13.2~13.4 volts with the
OEM alternator.
that is NOT ENOUGH TO KEEP THE BATTERIES FULLY CHARGED.
IT WILL ONLY MAINTAIN THE BATTERIES AT ABOUT 25% CHARGE.
this is why your batteries don't last worth a chit.
the ficm, having lower input voltage to work with, tries to make
up the difference to provide the correct output voltage. it draws
more current in this process.
current creates heat. heat burns up ficm boards.
NOT ENGINE COMPARTMENT HEAT. HEAT *INSIDE* THE FICM
WHILE TRYING TO FUNCTION WITH LOW INPUT VOLTAGE.
seeing as you guys have huge self contained current needs,
the single best thing you can do for your vehicle is replace
that worthless POS oem alternator with a decent one.
the OEM alternator neither provides sufficient voltage to charge
the batteries fully, nor sufficient current output to run the glow
plugs and charge the battery.
when cold, with glow plugs on, you will probably pull 175 amps
of engine current load. the alternator can provide 120 amps of that,
the remaining current is drawn down off the batteries, reducing
them even further.... then when the glow plugs turn off, the
POS alternator charges the batteries to a smoking hot 25% charge.
this is what i am running. it solves all those problems. the ONLY
time my batteries are being discharged, is when cranking the
engine. my system voltage running is 14.8 volts, which takes
all the load off the ficm.
https://www.dcpowerinc.com/fit/2006~For ... 70-xp.html
ed@ficmrepair.com can supply these, or you can get them directly
from dc power.
get the XP version. it's more expensive, but a far better alternator
technically. DC power recommends it over their other higher amperage
alternators, which are aimed at the high end stereo crowd.
the other thing is... when you start up your engine to charge batteries....
sometimes ya gotta.... that 270 XP alternator produces 200 amps of
charging current at 14.8 volts charge voltage......
at idle. nobody else does that.
i can start up cold, with glow plugs on, turn on the godzilla stereo
to force factor five (bleeding from the ears) drawing 125 amps
on the stereo amplifiers continuously, running the glow plugs,
and STILL be charging the batteries.
VivaLaVida
Sportsmobile (AKA Money Pit)
Linear Mode
